Tawny Lara is an NYC-based millennial who writes about the intersection of sex and sobriety. Her work is featured in Playboy, Men’s Health, Huffington Post, Writer’s Digest, Mic, The Temper, Audiofemme, a sex column for SheSaid, and two essay collections: The Addiction Diaries (LaunchPad 2020) and the forthcoming reimagining of Sex and the Single Girl (Harper Perennial 2022). She is the co-host of Recovery Rocks podcast and the story developer for the Webby-Award-winning podcast, F*cking Sober.
Sitting down via Zoom with Tawny felt so surreal. I’ve been listening to her podcast, Recovery Rocks, for over a year. In fact one of the very firsts podcast reviews I did for The Sober Curator featured Tawny and her podcast partner Lisa Smith last summer. (You can read it here.) One of my favorite pandemic silver linings is the friendships I have made with people in the recovery community via Sober Instagram. I feel so fortunate that I can count Tawny as one of these new friendships. Mesmerized by her curly locks, bold sexual statements, and incredible talent with the written word, it’s easy to adore Tawny from afar.
Q & A with Tawny Lara
Sobriety Date:
November 30th, 2015
Favorite Alcohol-Free Beverage:
Partake Brewing Blonde is a vibrant gold, crystal clear American-style blonde ale topped with a white foamy cap. On the nose, whiffs of toasted bread intermingle with floral, earthy hops and a hint of pom fruit. On the sip, the grainy notes are balanced by a soft hop bitterness. It’s clean and crisp with a medium body.
Sweet Crude CBD currently comes in two flavors, Yellow Mule and OG Tonic. Sweet Crude CBD Cocktails are non-alcoholic and infused with domestically sourced hemp extract and natural terpenes.
Favorite #Quitlit Book:
A Girl Walks Out of a Bar by her now podcast partner Lisa Smith, Quit Like a Woman by Holly Whitaker, and Getting Off by Erica Garza, which is about one woman’s journey through sex and porn addiction.
Going Public with Sobriety:
Tawny talked to me openly that she has always been public with her own sobriety. In fact, that’s exactly how she spent her first year of sobriety, by publicly writing about her experience via a personal blog. Tawny went on to talk about how this experience developed her strong voice as a writer. Her writing and creative career really began to really flourish during this time.
Selfie Care:
Tawny is a big fan of practicing regular selfcare time. She’s a big fan acupuncture 1-2x times per week and getting outside.
Tips on Recovering Out Loud:
In Tawny’s own words…Start with telling one person you trust and then slowly tell more people. You might find that going public means simply sharing within your inner circle. However, some people shout it from the roof tops. Whatever it means to you, it’s important to have someone you can talk to about your recovery (best friend, sponsor, therapist). Be advised, it’s not always going to go great. People are going to have their own thoughts and opinions.
Advice:
When I asked Tawny what is one piece of advice she would go back and tell her newly sober self, she was quick to answer “by finding a support group or therapist.” While her journey started out as a social experiment, nine months into sobriety Tawny got a therapist. She realized this recovery shit has roots and it’s not just about not drinking. Once she started sharing publicly about being sober and getting comments about what she was talking about, she knew she was on to something. She also quickly realized she was not alone.
What’s Something Cool That’s Happened in Recovery?
“Winning a Webby Award was pretty fucking cool” exclaimed Tawny. For those of you not familiar with this huge accomplishment, Tawny was part of the team behind the F*cking Sober First 90 Days Podcast as a story developer. At The Sober Curator, we are huge fans of this narrative podcast that recaps one woman’s journey of the first 90 days sober. This podcast was nominated in two categories, Best Writing and Best Limited Series, in the podcast category of the 25th annual Webby Awards and took 1st Place in the People’s Choice for Best Writing. This is a huge feat for the recovery community to win such an honorable award in mainstream media. (It’s like the Oscars of the internet.)
Favorite Nonprofit Organization:
Road Recovery is an entertainment industry-driven, New York based non-profit organization dedicated to helping young people battle addiction and other adversities by empowering at-risk youth from all backgrounds to face their struggles, while teaching them comprehensive life skills.
Guided by music and entertainment industry professionals who have confronted similar life struggles, and with support from the mental health field, Road Recovery’s action-driven programs provide mentorship, performance workshops, and “all access” opportunities for a community of motivated peers to create and produce live concert events and studio recording projects.
Favorite Guilty Pleasure?
“I don’t believe in guilty pleasures”, Tawny explained. “If you like something, then let yourself like it as long as no one is getting hurt.”
Favorite Pop Culture Moment in Time?
Tawny is obsessed with the Andy Warhol scene, the Velvet Underground, and Studio 54. Wishing she could have experienced Studio 54 and all it’s glamour herself, Tawny has a deep love and appreciation for 70s glam rock and 60s hippie vibes.
What’s on Your Playlist Right Now?
Self described as a “grumpy geriatric millennial – aka an old millennial”, Tawny loves herself some 90s and 00s alt rock, Eve Six, Blink-182, Everclear, and Jagged Little Pills. Lady Gaga is newer music she also loves.
Who Do You Admire in the Sober Community?
As mentioned before, Tawny adores Lisa Smith (Girl Walks Out) and Holly Whittaker (Quit Like a Woman). She also really admires, Ruby Warrington, Author of Sober Curious, who helped make the sober curious movement socially acceptable. She also noted that Katie Mack, of F*cking Sober First 90 Days podcast, is ahead of her time and “a breathe of fresh air for the online sober community.”
Tawny has a brand new website that we encourage you to take a deep dive into. I feel pretty confident that we are going to continue to see more and more great things from Tawny, as she is one to watch as the sober community continues to rise into mainstream media.
SOBER SPOTLIGHT: This section of our site highlights extraordinary people in recovery. Sober small business owners doin’ their thing gives us all the feels. Who is making a difference in your recovery community? If you know someone we should spotlight please connect with us at thesobercurator@gmail.com or DM us on social media.
Resources are available
Resources Are Available
If you or someone you know is experiencing difficulties surrounding alcoholism, addiction, or mental illness, please reach out and ask for help. People everywhere can and want to help; you just have to know where to look. And continue to look until you find what works for you. Click here for a list of regional and national resources.